This invention relates to the use of a personal computer which is selectively plugged into a vehicle, and into a base facility to selectively gather, analyze and transmit data.
Heavy vehicles such as trucks, typically require a good deal of data storage and gathering. In particular, on a typical heavy truck trip, the driver must gather a good deal of information with regard to the route traveled. As an example, taxes are assessed based on the number of state lines crossed, etc. Thus, it is typically necessary for a truck driver to prepare detailed manual logs during or after a trip.
It would also be desirable to have a system which monitors and analyzes variables during the operation of the vehicle. As an example, it would be desirable to be able to monitor the number of hours driven by an operator, such that an operator is not allowed to drive for too many hours. Moreover, it would be desirable to have a system that can monitor variables such as anomalies in the operation of the vehicle, and analyze such anomalies.
On-board computers are known for vehicles. However, these on-board computers are typically dedicated into the control system for the vehicle. Moreover, the system is relatively expensive in that hardware and software must be individually tailored for the particular vehicle. Many heavy vehicles are manufactured in relatively low runs, and thus, it may not be cost effective to prepare individual computers.
More recently, the assignee of the present invention has proposed a system wherein a so-called xe2x80x9cSmart Cardxe2x80x9d stores information during operation of a vehicle, and may then be taken from the vehicle. This card is able to store information with regard to the vehicle, and with regard to the operator operating the vehicle. While this card does provide many functional benefits, it is not able to perform any computations on the gathered data.
It would be desirable to develop a system which can not only gather, but also analyze and respond to the gathered data.
In the enclosed embodiment of this invention, a removable personal data assistant (xe2x80x9cPDAxe2x80x9d), or computer, is docked in a docking station on the vehicle. The PDA gathers operational information from the vehicle. When the driver leaves the vehicle the PDA can be taken with the operator and brought to a headquarters facility. In this way, it is relatively simple to download operational information from the vehicle to the headquarters. Further, the headquarters can upload information into the PDA which can then be transmitted to the vehicle when the driver returns to the vehicle.
Among the types of information which may be gathered and stored by the PDA includes operational information such as driver identification, trip information, operational history for the driver, etc. Moreover, the information which has typically been stored in manual logs by the operator can be simply stored on the computer. As an example, the number of state lines crossed, etc., may be stored.
Moreover, the computer is able to analyze and/or store information from the vehicle during operation of the vehicle to look for anomalies. As an example, a number of particular conditions may be sensed by the computer which would be indicative of a particular problem. The computer may then send a diagnostic signal which will enable the problem to be further identified.
In a most preferred embodiment, an off-the-shelf computer may be utilized. In this way, no expensive hardware or software need be developed. One such PDA is typically known and available under the trade name Palm Pilot(trademark). Such a PDA is easily tailored to include additional software such that the headquarters can program the PDA to include particular software for any particular function the headquarters would like be performed at the vehicle. Again, the use of this system simplifies and facilitates the gathering of data from the vehicle.
These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following which is a brief description.